If they
worship God in sincerity, you say that is all?"
"No, miss, faith without works is a futile reliance for heaven. It is
the first necessity, and perhaps the next and greatest, is, to 'Do unto
all what you would have all do unto you.' These are the words of the
great Chinese philosopher, Confucius, and were taught four and a half
centuries before Christ, yet we see Him teaching the same. This, as
Confucius said, was the great cardinal duty of man, and all else was
but a commentary upon this. This I fancy is all, at least it is very
comprehensive. You tell me the traditions of the people who worshipped
here say that this was a cardinal law unto them?"
"You, sir, have lived too long among the heathen, if you are not one
already. You are like an August peach in July: you are turning, and in
a little while will be ripe. You talk, as Uncle Toney says, like a
book, and to me, like a new book, for yours are new thoughts to me.
Cousin, does he not astonish you?"
"By no means; true, they are new thoughts; but they are natural
thoughts, and I do not fear to listen to them--on the contrary, I could
listen to them all day, and, Alice, I have often, very often, heard
from you something like this.
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